Some Memories

Keith Bloomfield recalls his visit to the hostel in 1948... I live in Uppingham, only just up the road from Loddington, and it was only recently that I realised that, in August 1948, I stayed the night at the Youth Hostel there. We were on a long cycle ride and had come from Hanwell hostel near Banbury - next stop Tickhill near Doncaster 62 miles away. We did big mileages in those days and thought nothing of cycling along the Great North Road. My old diary doesn't say much about the place except that the food was 'meagre to say the least', but that was a common complaint in the late 40s. It also mentions ' an immobile mouse' but I'm not sure what that means - maybe a dead one..I think we must have bathed in the nearby stream before signing in for the night at 5pm (when doors opened). Happy Days in those austere years after the war when there was precious little food around. Loddington hostel was but one stop on a mammoth cycle ride (on a sit-up-and-beg model) from County Durham to Cornwall and back.

John Brown writes that: "I do remember days from 1952 at the hostel. I visited it regularly from Leicester. I remember the hostel very well, my friend Terry and I cycled from work on Friday nights, it did seem a very quiet time there. but we always had a great time, the next day we always went over to Whissendine hostel through some quiet lanes and tracks. The nearby village of East Norton was a busy place to pass through."

Another recollection is from Des Baker in Cleveland, Ohio, USA who writes: "2 of us hitch hiked from Sheffield to Loddington on 23 Sept 1956. I have a YHA postcard somewhat different to those shown. Also during our 1 night stay there was a guy named Victor Streeter who sketched me (and others)in crayon. It was good then but looking back on it now 54 yrs later...I can't see any change!"

Shelagh Maric (nee Hackett) whose mother at one time was warden at Loddington writes: "I have attached a newspaper article which shows my dad serving in the 'shop' and also a picture of my mum, Florence (looking very stern!) who was the warden of the youth hostel. I think we were living there from around 1955 to 1960, leaving just before my 11th birthday. Prior to that we lived at the cottages towards Launde (the one furthest from Loddington village, which has now been significantly modernised and extended). I attended Sunday School at Launde Abbey (with Canon Godfrey?) and went to school in Tugby, with the school bus picking me up at the YH gate each morning. We had a grocery van visit regularly and also a mobile library."

Bill Goodge recalls that "I stayed at Loddington Youth Hostel several times during my cycling club days in the '60's, including the weekend of the British Cycle Tourist Competition in 1963. I particularly remember the grand piano in the common room, which I enjoyed subjecting to musical abuse."

John Dyson writes: My first visit to Loddington was in 1962, and it was the very first Youth Hostel I had ever stayed at. It was a trial run for a planned cycling holiday from Leicester to Towyn in Wales with my cousin. which was to involve staying overnight in Shrewsbury Youth Hostel, and we needed to know what hostelling was like before we set off on the big adventure. The warden of Loddington Hostel was then a Mrs Lucely. We knew nothing about hostelling and on our arrival stood knocking at the door for several minutes before a not very pleased Mrs Lucely answered it. We were not to know that one was supposed to just enter Youth Hostels without knocking, to report to the reception. However this was to be the first of many a "bednight", not only at Loddington, but many other Youth Hostels. Loddington was a fairly large hostel of some 40 beds. The 1962 YHA handbook informed us that there was a store at the hostel to buy food for those cooking their own, but the warden would also provide meals for those who required them.
Loddington was a fairly large hostel of some 40 beds. The 1962 YHA handbook informed us that there was a store at the hostel to buy food for those cooking their own, but the warden would also provide meals for those who required them. It also reported that there was a shop and Post Office 2 miles away at Belton (now Belton-in-Rutland) and a Post office 1½ miles away at East Norton. Neither of these facilities remains today (2006). The handbook entry also carried a warning to cyclists about the "Dangerous Z bend and hill on the road from East Norton". That danger is still there. I soon became involved in the Leicester Group of the YHA and the Leicestershire and Rutland Sub-Region committee of which I eventually became chairman. I spent many a happy time at Loddington over the years. There were celebrations, such as Bonfire Night, as well as committee meetings and working parties."

Roger Lewis remembers 1967. I remember staying at the Loddington hostel on Saturday 11 Feb 1967 when I was 15 years old. I was cycling the 365 miles round trip from Worthing over a half term weekend to visit some friends in Corby, stopping at Holmbury St. Mary and Greens Norton, Towcester hostels on route. My bike was a recently acquired Freddie Grubb racing/tourer which performed the task admirably, as I remember. The weekend was very cold, but with sunny days. As I had been the only occupant in the unheated and freezing Greens Norton wooden ex army hut, I thought Loddington was 5 star accommodation. Unfortunately I don't remember who was on the reception desk when I arrived, but it was probably about 8pm as I had left Corby in the dark around 7pm. My diary informs me that on arrival I bought a packet of dates, a Mars bar and a bottle of orange from the hostel stores for my supper! Hot meals probably weren't so easy to come by in the winter evenings. One other person was also staying the night so I was glad of some company. He was an RAF serviceman who had walked the 12 miles or so from nearby RAF Cottesmore. We were given breakfast the next morning at 8.30 which I think was a cooked breakfast, after which my assigned task was to sweep the dining room floor before leaving. My room mate then walked with me as far as Belton and then headed off up a footpath in the direction of Oakham and Cottesmore. I had been invited to a Sunday lunch in Corby before setting off again towards home.
Roger sent us some images of his YHA membership card and Handbook pages which you can view HERE

A celebrity to be stayed at Lodington Youth Hostel: Audrey Walker informs us that "Several years ago, my husband and I went to a literary lunch at Kings Lynn where Alan Sillitoe of 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning' fame was the guest speaker. All three of us stood outside for a cigarette and got into conversation. When we told him we came from Belton-in-Rutland, he said he knew it well which we found quite surprising. He explained that as a teenager, trying to escape into the countryside from his home city of Nottingham, he used to set off on his bike and Loddington was the furthest he could ride in a day. He used to spend the night in Loddington Youth Hostel and cycle home the following day. I often wonder whether his second novel 'Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner' was based on those journeys on his bike."

Julia Lane (nee Lockton) writes from Canada: "I have wonderful memories of Loddington YHA. I lived there for some years with my sister Fiona and my Mum and Dad Avril and Don Lockton (Wardens). I was happy to discover this page as it brought back great memories of growing up in rural Leicestershire. Mum, Dad and Fiona still live in Leicestershire."

A sad tale from Lee Brown I may have been one of the very last people to attempt to stay at Loddington Youth Hostel... On a cycling holiday from Kent in 1969 or 1970 when I was 16, I cycled from Houghton Mill Youth Hostel near St Ives in Cambridgeshire to Loddington. The YHA handbook showed the hostel was open and there were no info sheets to the contrary on noticeboards in the previous hostels. When I arrived, I found that the hostel had very recently shut down. A bit miffed, and there was nowhere to stay locally I could find, so I cycled on to Leicester, heading for Copt Oak Youth Hostel. Snow stopped me in the early evening, and sheltering in a cafe, someone kindly offered me a place to stay the night.

Doug Fairgrieve writes that "As I remember the installation of the water main involved digging a trench from the outside wall nearest the "W" for well slab situated inside the hostel, across the back of the building and round by the 'front door'. There is a minimum depth for such pipes but the trench only had to be left open for inspection every so often. Bernard, Regional secretary and organiser of working parties, was wise to this and the surface of the trench tended to rise upwards between inspection holes."
Doug also recalls helping with the construction of the Field Study Centre, a wooden building behind the hostel. Visit the Field Study page for further info and photographs of the Field Study Centre.